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House Republicans on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to take the lead in negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff, as talks appear to have broken down.

“We can’t sit here and negotiate with ourselves,” House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) told reporters on Capitol Hill. “If the president doesn’t agree with our proposal and our outlines, I think he’s got an obligation to send one to Congress.”

Republican leaders were taken aback this week when the White House swiftly rejected a GOP offer based on a proposal outlined by Erskine Bowles, the Democratic co-chair of the president’s 2010 deficit commission.

The proposed framework included $800 billion in new revenue through tax reform—eliminating or capping deduction for wealthy earners—and was criticized by conservative lawmakers and pundits as too generous.